Volunteer victims test emergency responders
Disaster drill held at Fort Dodge airport
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> A volunteer portraying a plane crash victim is loaded into a Fort Dodge Fire Department ambulance Tuesday morning during a disaster drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>Fort Dodge Fire Department paramedics and a Badger firefighter tend to a victim portrayed by a volunteer during Tuesday’s drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>One of the first Fort Dodge firefighters to arrive at the scene during Tuesday’s drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport checks on a patient.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>A UnityPoint Health — LifeFlight helicopter comes in for a landing during the disaster drill Tuesday morning at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> A volunteer portraying a plane crash victim is loaded into a Fort Dodge Fire Department ambulance Tuesday morning during a disaster drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>Fort Dodge Fire Department paramedics and a Badger firefighter tend to a victim portrayed by a volunteer during Tuesday’s drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>One of the first Fort Dodge firefighters to arrive at the scene during Tuesday’s drill at Fort Dodge Regional Airport checks on a patient.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br>A UnityPoint Health — LifeFlight helicopter comes in for a landing during the disaster drill Tuesday morning at Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
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There were a lot of people laying around in a grassy area at Fort Dodge Regional Airport Tuesday morning and they didn't look good.
One young woman appeared to be missing part of a leg. Others were covered in horrible-looking gashes, with blood everywhere.
But those wounds were all fake. They were pieces of plastic strapped onto healthy, uninjured people. And all that blood? It was red-tinted liquid straight out of plastic jugs.
The special effects job on about 25 people was part of an effort to give local emergency responders the most realistic experience during a disaster drill at the airport.
The federal government requires airports to have disaster drills every year. Most of those drills are tabletop exercises in which leaders of airports and emergency services strategize about responses. But every third year, they are required to have full scale drills featuring people posing as victims of a plane crash.
On Tuesday, it was the Fort Dodge Regional Airport's time for a full scale drill.
The scenario was that a plane coming into the airport reported problems and then crashed short of a runway.
There were about 25 people aboard that fictitious flight.
About eight of them were students in a health occupations class at Fort Dodge Senior High School who volunteered.
Playing the part of a plane crash victim involves "getting out of your comfort zone for sure," said Alexis Scott, one of the Senior High students.
She was given a mask that made her face look bruised, and was told she would be suffering from internal bleeding. She said she would act like she was in pain and shock.
Scott and her fellow volunteers were positioned in a field in the far northwest corner of the airport property.
Firefighters and paramedics rushed out to that area. They quickly assessed all the patients, deciding which ones were the most seriously injured and needed treatment first.
The patients were taken to the emergency room at UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center, so that the staff there could practice dealing with a sudden influx of seriously injured people.
A family reunion center was established in the Iowa Army National Guard Readiness Center south of the airport so that the least seriously injured patients could link up with their loved ones.
Participating in the drill were the Fort Dodge Regional Airport staff, Fort Dodge police and fire departments, Badger Fire Department. Webster County Sheriff's Office, Iowa State Patrol, Webster County Emergency Management, Webster County Health Department, Webster County Medical Examiners Office, UnityPoint Health -- Trinity Regional Medical Center, LifeFlight and Skywest Airlines. The Iowa Department of Public Safety sent a mobile command vehicle.